In the News: David Rabe's An Early History of Fire

David Rabe Tries Catching 'Fire' Off-Broadway

by Kathy Shwiff

"David Rabe is rewriting during rehearsals for his new play, An Early History of Fire, which opens off-Broadway on April 30.

This is the first time he has done that in his 40-year career, he said, adding that 'the whole soul of the play started to transform during rehearsals.'

Rabe, who won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 for Sticks and Bones, discussed his work as actors read bits of it aloud Sunday afternoon in the theater where An Early History of Fire is in previews.

Among the actors were Rabe’s daughter, Lily, who is appearing on Broadway in the play Seminar; Judith Ivey, who won a Tony Award for her role in Rabe’s play Hurlyburly in 1985; and Bobby Cannavale (Nurse Jackie), who appeared in the off-Broadway revival of Hurlyburly in 2005."

Click here to read the full Wall Street Journal article.

Last Show of the Season Starts Tonight

Previews begin TONIGHT at 8pm

A WORLD PREMIERE FROM THE TONY AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF HURLYBURLY

An Early History of Fire is set at the tipping point of the early 1960s. In a Midwestern town, Danny's days are defined by friendship and loyalty - but the bigger world encroaches in the form of Karen, back from college in the east, alluring and unsettling because of all she has learned. Awhirl in longing and eyeing a chance for radical change, Danny struggles against the grip of his immigrant father, who mourns a vanished world of lost prestige while clinging to his only son. This world premiere marks David Rabe's return to The New Group, following the company's acclaimed 2005 revival of Hurlyburly.

Limited Engagement to May 26th

To order tickets CLICK HERE

OR call 212.239.6200

OR visit the Theatre Row Box Office, 410 West 42nd St.

Monday, May 7th at 7pm
One-Night-Only Reading to Benefit The New Group

Women Behind Bars
By Tom Eyen
Directed by Scott Elliott

with Charles Busch, Janeane Garofalo, Nancy Giles,
Josh Hamilton, Natasha Lyonne, Cynthia Nixon, Rosie O'Donnell,
Rosie Perez, Rhea Perlman, Chloë Sevigny, and Jennifer Tilly

It's New Year's Eve 1952 in The Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village. When the innocent and lovely Mary-Eleanor is framed by her husband and put away, her arrival in the house of detention sparks rivalries that build to increasingly dangerous -- not to say unspeakable and hilarious -- conflicts among her fellow prisoners and the sadistic Matron. An outrageous send-up of the classic genre of 1950s movies set in women's prisons, Women Behind Bars is a wild ensemble piece by Tom Eyen (who went on to write Dreamgirls). Women Behind Bars premiered in New York in 1974 (The New York Theatre Ensemble) and transferred to Off-Broadway's The Astor Place Theatre, where it opened in May 1975.

For tickets and information, please contact: Brandon Suisse brandon@thenewgroup.org.

Click here to read the Playbill.com article.

REFLECTING RABE

Readings from David Rabe's work

featuring

Bobby Cannavale, Judith Ivey, and Matthew Modine

Sunday April 15, 4 pm
Acorn Theatre, Theatre Row

The final Dark Night of our season will present readings of diverse excerpts from the body of work of David Rabe, author of the classic plays Hurlyburly and Streamers, as well as The New Group's current premiere, An Early History of Fire. Special guests, including Bobby Cannavale, Judith Ivey, and Matthew Modine, will read selections from Rabe's acclaimed novels and lesser known plays like Those the River Keeps, as well as reflect on Rabe's singular and brilliant career. Public discussion with David Rabe and the actors will follow.

The New Group is committed to fostering artistic dialogue, and this is the fourth season that we are presenting Dark Nights at The New Group, in which important theater artists discuss their creative process and present works-in-progress. These events are free to all, and allow our audience to interact with our artists around thought-provoking topics. Recent Dark Nights have included filmmaker Todd Solondz speaking with Thomas Bradshaw about writing about taboo subjects; readings of scenes from Hamlet, with Lisa Emery, Mamie Gummer, Josh Hamilton, and Wallace Shawn; and Ethan Hawke and Jonathan Marc Sherman discussing Jonathan’s new play inspired by Brecht’s Baal, and performing Brecht scenes and songs. All events are on Sundays in the Acorn Theater at Theatre Row.

To RSVP please email seats@thenewgroup.org.
There is a $20 suggested donation. Event is free to subscribers.
Space is limited, so reservations are a must.

CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT

AN EARLY HISTORY OF FIRE
By David Rabe
Directed by Jo Bonney

With
Deema Aitken, Gordon Clapp, Erin Darke, Jonny Orsini,
Devin Ratray, Dennis Staroselsky, Theo Stockman, Claire van der Boom

 An Early History of Fire is set at the tipping point of the early 1960s. In a Midwestern town, Danny's days are defined by friendship and loyalty - but the bigger world encroaches in the form of Karen, back from college in the east, alluring and unsettling because of all she has learned. Awhirl in longing and eyeing a chance for radical change, Danny struggles against the grip of his immigrant father, who mourns a vanished world of lost prestige while clinging to his only son. This world premiere marks David Rabe's return to The New Group, following the company's acclaimed 2005 revival of Hurlyburly.

Previews begin April 5th

Complete Casting Announced for David Rabe's An Early History of Fire; Lily Rabe Withdraws

Broadway.com - full article

Claire Van Der Boom Replaces Lily Rabe in An Early History of Fire Off-Broadway

Playbill.com - full article

Lily Rabe Leaves Cast of New Group's EARLY HISTORY OF FIRE

BroadwayWorld.com - full article

Click here for tickets.

Newsday Spotlights 5 New Playwrights, Including Erika Sheffer

Off-Broadway Spotlights 5 New Playwrights



 "Works by new or little-known playwrights are attracting most of the right attention in Off-Broadway theaters around town. Here are five I recently got to know.

RX by Kate Fodor
Primary Stages, 59E59 Theaters, 59 E. 59th St.; 212-279-4200; primarystages.org

CQ/CX by Gabe McKinley
Atlantic Theater, Norton Space, 555 W. 42nd St.; 212-279-4200; atlantictheater.org

RUSSIAN TRANSPORT by Erika Sheffer
New Group, 410 W. 42nd St.; 212-239-6200; thenewgroup.org

Erika Sheffer tackles both a family tragicomedy and a big-picture global crime in her off-center, highly original and impressive playwriting debut. We are in the Sheepshead Bay bungalow of a struggling but loving family of Russian-Jewish immigrants. In moves the mother's handsome, increasingly menacing brother (played with imposing, silky duplicity by Morgan Spector). His arrival from Russia is first folded into the everyday family banter, before he ensnares the teenage children (beautifully played by Sarah Steele and Raviv Ullman) and, ultimately, reveals secrets that are genuinely surprising.

Despite some weirdness in her Russian accent, Janeane Garofalo is a sturdy, funny-serious and welcome presence as the nobody's-fool mother. Scott Elliott, head of The New Group, directs his new find with the tenderness and brutality it deserves. How he got the cast (including Daniel Oreskes as the hardworking father) to speak Russian -- or at least to sound as if he were speaking Russian -- is a very good mystery.

YOSEMITE by Daniel Talbott
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, 212-279-4200; ticketcentral.com, closing Feb. 26

PSYCHO THERAPY by Frank Strausser
Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce St., 212-352-3101; psychotherapytheplay.com, closing Feb. 25"

Click here to read the full article.

RUSSIAN TRANSPORT is a
Time Out NY 'Critics Pick'

"Erika Sheffer’s engrossing moral thriller starts in familiar domestic comedy, with a Russian-immigrant twist, then veers into ugly new territory with the arrival of a sexually charged sociopath (an impressive Morgan Spector). The mostly excellent ensemble cast, directed smartly by Scott Elliott, drives the play ahead forcefully on ever-twisting roads."

 

Click here to read the full article.

Janeane Garofalo: On Making Her Stage Debut

The Truth About Janeane Garofalo: She's Making Her Stage Debut, At Last

"Janeane Garofalo takes a tart, tangy sip of her Red Bull — the Large Economy Size, it looks like, but she says no: 'There is a 20-ouncer. I've already had one today. This is my second one so that's why I'm down to 16 ounces.' Now, if only she can wrap up this pre-show interview in time for a fast smoke, it’ll be Showtime!

The show in question is not the liberal-slanted standup she's been slinging around comedy clubs since 1985 but rather a fascinating first-play by Erika Sheffer called Russian Transport, which has just been extended till March 24 at the Acorn on Theatre Row. It has transported her to a place she has never been before — onto a stage in a play — not a second too soon, it being her 20th year as a practicing actress."

Click here to read the full article.